US President Donald Trump said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that he is taking a larger daily dose of aspirin than his doctors recommend.
“They say aspirin is good for thinning out the blood, and I don’t want thick blood pouring through my heart,” Trump told the paper in an interview published on Thursday. “I want nice, thin blood pouring through my heart. Does that make sense?”
Trump, 79, is the second-oldest person to ever hold the presidency, following his Democratic predecessor President Joe Biden, who dropped his 2024 re-election bid amid questions about his fitness for the job and was aged 82 when he left office a year ago.
Trump’s health has been in the spotlight in recent months due to bruises that have been spotted on his hands and an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) exam that he was reported to have undergone in October, as well as instances where the Republican president closed his eyes during public events.
Daily use of aspirin can lower the chances of heart attack or stroke for people over the age of 60, according to the Mayo Clinic, which says a low dose of aspirin is most commonly 81mg.
The president’s doctor, Sean Barbabella, told the Journal that Trump takes 325mg of aspirin daily for cardiac prevention.
The bruising is the result of him shaking so many hands, according to the White House, which said last month the MRI was preventative.
His right hand shows persistent bruising, often covered with thick makeup and at times a bandage, and his ankles have appeared swollen.
On occasion, Trump has clearly struggled to keep his eyes open, including during an Oval Office meeting with health representatives in November.
Trump told the Journal that he wasn’t dozing, just relaxing.
“I’ll just close. It’s very relaxing to me,” he said.
“Sometimes they’ll take a picture of me blinking, blinking, and they’ll catch me with the blink,” he added.
When asked about the MRI, Trump and Barbabella told the Journal that the president actually got a CT scan.
Barbabella stated that the president’s doctors had initially said they would perform either an MRI or a CT scan but decided to do the latter “to definitively rule out any cardiovascular issues”.
It revealed no abnormalities, according to Barbabella.
Yesterday Trump touted his “perfect health” and cognitive skills.
“The White House Doctors have just reported that I am in ‘PERFECT HEALTH’, and that I ‘ACED’ (Meaning, was correct on 100% of the questions asked!), for the third straight time, my Cognitive Examination,
something which no other President, or previous Vice President, was willing to take,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
Trump has based much of his political image on projecting vigour – whether through his frequent interactions with journalists, constant social media posting, or artificial intelligence (AI) memes depicting him as a superhero.